
Class _tlliio01i 
Book.AXiK_tiic 
ghtN»_lll!i 



COEXRIGHT DEPOSm 



POEMATA AMANTIS 




BY 
AN ENGLISHMAN 



NEW YORK, MCMXVII 

All rights reserved 



V 



POEMATA AMANTIS 

(Love Verses) 






Fifty Copies only of these 

POEMATA AMANTIS 

have been privately printed. 

This Copy 

is 

No 



POEMATA AMANTIS 

\Love Verses) 



ADDRESSED TO 

A DAUGHTER 0/ AMERICA 

BY 

AN ENGLISHMAN 

spirit is more than matter. 
For spirit sunward tends; 
And these real flozvers we scatter 
For the spirits of our friends. 



NEW YORK, MCMXVII 






copyiught, 19 1 7 
By The Plimpton Pkess 



/ 

^^y -9/917 



THESE POEM ATA A MANTIS 

ARE DEDICATED 
TO 

THEIR ONLY INSPIRER 



CONTENTS 



PAGE 

TO II 

AMOR VICTRIX 12 

THE LOOK 13 

SUMMUM BONUM . I4 

IMPERFECTION I5 

THE DEFECT 16 

DESIDERATA I7 

AMOR IMPERATRIX 1 8 

GRATITUDE 20 

SUPPLICATION 21 

EDEN 22 

VOX ANGELICA 23 

INQUIETUDE 24 

PROMISE 25 

TO THE NIGHT 26 

THE MIRACLE 27 

PREDESTINATION 28 

love's LOGIC 29 

THE INVITATION 30 

THE BRIDGE 3 1 

MOONBEAMS 32 

DIMIDIUM ANIMJE 33 

WAYFARERS 34 

SONG 35 

SONG 36 

SONG 37 

SONG 38 

PEACE 39 

THE SNOWDROP 40 

[7] 



COMPLETION 41 

CONSTANCY 42 

REVERIE 43 

THE GIFT 44 

WITHOUT AND WITH 45 

OPPOSITES 46 

IF YOU WERE GONE 47 

METAMORPHOSES 48 

THE HAND 49 

PASTEL 50 

ONLY YOU 51 

THE SIGH 52 

REALITY 53 

THE ISSUE 54 

POTENCY 55 

THE ROSE 56 

THE PEARL 57 

YOU 58 

IN IMITATION OF SAPPHO 59 

MANNA 61 

MY LADY 62 

SANS LIENS 63 

AD ASTRA 65 

INCOMPLETENESS 66 

SONG 67 

THREE LITTLE WORDS 68 

SHADOWS 69 

SONG 70 

loneliness 7i 

yearning ." 73 

inadequacy 74 

beyond hope 75 

starlight 76 

l'envoi 77 

[8] 



INDEX TO FIRST LINES 

PAGE 

A miracle of heavenly birth 27 

Above the dusky hair 44 

After suffering, balm 46 

Beautiful hand 49 

Behind your eyes 63 

Come with the birds' first song 30 

Dear love, when morning dawns 33 

Famished with hunger 61 

From the infinite space 39 

Give me those hands 59 

I have considered 14 

I have no song to-night 69 

I heard an angel call me 23 

I know the way you used to go 42 

I love the darkness of your eye 50 

I must fix it like a mage 13 

I saw a snowdrop 40 

I see the children . . 52 

I think if God should give 17 

I thought of her and of her eyes 24 

I was so cold 41 

I would but cannot 74 

If you love me as I love you 29 

In hours I spend with you 56 

Inspirerof my days 34 

Into the unknown New Year 20 

Let me be the sun 48 

Love, just one sigh 15 

[9] 



More than all earthly gain 76 

My God, I thank Thee 22 

My track crossed yours one day 28 

No longer would the sky be blue 47 

Not for us the semblance 53 

Not long ago a child 18 

O lips I love 67 

O love I am yearning 73 

O magic heart 55 

O mighty impulse 12 

O moonbeams on the roof 32 

O night with wings unfurled 26 

O the first days of spring 25 

O what a rich return 57 

O wind, O gentle wind 21 

Others have spacious lands 51 

So near you are 70 

Song-birds and flowers 71 

Take them, love, these sixty poems ']'] 

The bee sings in the flowers 38 

The days that intervene 31 

The evening falls 43 

The night is falling, love 35 

There is a blackness that I love 62 

There is a redness in the rose 37 

Thou hast filled up my cup 75 

Though I go from the sun 36 

Three little words 68 

To-night if Christ 66 

What can I bring thee ....•': 54 

What is the sunshine to me 16 

When the poems that I write you ii 

Without thy voice to bless me 45 

You fill my heart with song 58 

Your lips outvie the reddest rose 65 

[10] 



TO 




HEN the poems that I write you 
You shall read, 
When I from earth's mutations 
Have been freed, 
You will know that still by love's impulsion 

bidden, 
I am singing by the blue of heaven hidden. 

When the passion I outpoured you 

You recall, 
In your musing, — when the evening 
Shadows fall, — 
You will know that in the happy near Hereafter 
I am waiting for your rippling girlish laughter. 



[II] 




AMOR VICTRIX 

MIGHTY impulse of o'ermastering 

Love, 
Drowned fathoms deep in thine un- 
sounded sea, 
Whose force is far my feeble strength above, 
I yield at last to thee. 

Vainly the little strives with the immense, 
Vainly an atom with infinity, 
Thou hast made bondsmen of mine every sense, 
I yield at last to thee. 

If thou must still deprive me of my thought. 
If thou must still possess my liberty. 
Contented thus to do as I am taught, 
I yield at last to thee. 

O blame me not because this soul of mine 
Long sought to keep her own identity; 
Mind, body, spirit, now I all resign — 
I yield them all to thee. 

[12] 




THE LOOK 

MUST fix it like a mage, 

That sweet look: 
Write it somewhere in the page 

Of a book: 

That when winter's cold doth kill 

Autumn flowers, 
All its mystic sweetness still 

May be ours. 

Gracious eyes that tenderly 

Answer mine ; 
Glorious eyes that pour for me 

Gladdening wine. 

Eyes that shine and save me in 

Sorrow's hour; 
And do shame the thought of sin 
By their power. 

Eyes that waked a soul in me, 

Love aflame. 
Making death henceforth to be 

But a name. 

[13] 




SUMMUM BONUM 

HAVE considered every grace 

That human life can hold ; 
The parks and stately palaces, 
The glory and the gold. 
The loveliness of Grecian form; 

The sea-bird's sweep of wing ; 
A child at play upon a lawn ; 
A primrose of the spring. 

I have imagined what we know 

When numbered with the dead, 
In Paradise, where roses blow, 

Whose bloom is never shed. 
But gazing now upon a face — 

Sweet, spirit-pure, apart, — 
I deem God's highest gift and grace 

Come with a woman's heart. 



[14] 




IMPERFECTION 

OVE, just one sigh 

My spirit doth give, 
Conscious that I 

Cannot perfectly Hve. 



Joys that entrance, 

Entrancing in vain 

Do but enhance 

Mine impotent pain. 

Rapture that lends 
Life its delight. 

Soon as it ends. 

Whelms me in night. 

Love, just one sigh 

My spirit doth give. 

Since we must die 
To perfectly live. 



[15] 




THE DEFECT 

HAT is the sunshine to me 

If the voice of my love is away? 
What all the wonders I see 

Around me by night and by day? 



What is the moon as she moves 

Up from the mist-cinctured hill, 

Eyeing the earth that she loves, 
Painting it white at her will ? 

What are the silver lights hung, 
Lamping it high overhead ? 

Still will their splendours be flung 
When I have passed to the dead. 

What is the world vast and wide ? 

What are my days that decline? 
Naught without her at my side; 

Naught if her hand clasp not mine. 



[i6] 




DESIDERATA 

THINK if God should give 

Me leave to ask to-night 
The life I fain would live 

In pain and grief's respite, 
I should but ask of Him one thing — 
My loved one to my heart to bring. 

I would not ask for ease, 

Nor wealth nor worldly gain ; 

Possession of all these 

Might leave me still in pain; 

For my lone soul knows no relief, 

Save only love, to end its grief. 

I wait through weary days, 

Through many a wakeful night ; 

No softest path I pace 
Can minister delight 

Till on my listening ear doth fall 

The step that makes amends for all. 

[17] 



AMOR IMPERATRIX 




[18] 



OT long ago a child 

Was laid upon our knees; 
It calmly slept and smiled, 

And was not hard to please. 



Our hearts recall the smiles 
Upon the dimpled cheek, 

The pretty baby wiles, 

The sweet attempts to speak. 

The little fingers twined 

In trust around our own; 

The present scarce divined. 
The future all unknown. 

A flower half-disclosed, 

A spirit half-awake, 
A melody proposed, 

A song as yet to make. 

The child we used to bless. 

The child with dreaming eyes. 

Is no more passionless. 

No longer peaceful lies. 



The tender little child, 

So gentle and so still, 
So easily beguiled. 

So subject to our will: 

Once quiet in our breast. 

Hath now imperious grown, 

Hath robbed us of our rest 

And made our hearts its throne. 



C19] 




GRATITUDE 

NTO the unknown New Year gliding, 
Hidden thoughts steal from their 
hiding. 

Thanks to God for vanished sorrow, 
Adding comfort to the morrow. 

Thanks to God that He hath sent us 
Love*s rich purple to content us. 

With its warm robe to enfold us, 
Angels envying behold us. 

Joy and light and peace and pleasure 
Love doth pour us without measure. 

Morning dawns with love to guide us, 
All day long she dwells beside us. 

Evening falls and draws us nearer, 
And the whispered word is dearer. 

In the folds of love soft sleeping. 
There is no more pain nor weeping. 

When the next life's morning breaketh. 
To new rapture love awaketh. 

[20] 




SUPPLICATION 

WIND, O gentle wind, 

Sing me a song to-night, 

My heart is sick with waiting. 
Waiting for love's delight. 



O moon, O silver moon, 

Throw me a glance to-night ; 

My heart is cold with longing. 
Longing for love's delight. 

O earth, O patient earth. 

Pity mortality. 
Tossed forever upon 

Time's tempestuous sea. 

O stars, O silent stars. 

More compassionate be! 
Ye will still shine on 

When earth forgetteth me. 

O Love, O Light of life. 

Eternal Deity; 
Vain, vain are all Thy gifts 

If love come not to me. 

[21] 




EDEN 

Y God, I thank Thee Who hast made 
The world so bright : 
The morning sun, the evening shade, 
The gems of night. 

And for that world eye hath not seen 

My thanks are due, 
And for the love that floats between 

And links the two: 

Till even grief, illumed by love. 

Transmuted is. 
And draws the soul to things above 

And fuller bliss. 

But most I thank Thee for Thy plan — 

So mystic sweet — 
Whereby Thou givest unto man 

A true help-meet. 

What if by day dark thoughts oppress, 

And peace depart; 
At even I have her caress 

To bless my heart. 

[22] 




vox ANGELICA 

HEARD an angel call me — 

"Come up at last and live; 
There's nothing to enthrall thee 
In all that earth can give. 



"The spirits sent to love thee, 
Save one, are gone before. 
And now they wait above thee 
Beside the open door." 

"I would (I answered), only 
My love I love her so. 
That should I leave her lonely. 
My joy would turn to woe. 

"Though heaven wait above me, 
On earth while still her heart 
So constantly doth love me, 
I never can depart." 



[23] 




INQUIETUDE 

PI THOUGHT of her and of her eyes 
The whole day long; 
I sat me down to moralize, 
But wrote a song. 

I rose and paced the crowded street, 

Yet I was blind: 
Her form, her voice, surpassing sweet, 

Possessed my mind. 

My garden high walls did enclose 

Seemed made for calm; 
But wanting her — I found the rose 

Had lost its charm. 

I left my flowers white and red, 

My garden plot: 
There is no ease for me, I said, 

Where she is not. 



[24] 




PROMISE 

THE first days of Spring 

With their sun and their scent, 
What a yearning they bring 
For love's sweet content ! 



How the leaves gently stirred 
By the wind at its will, 

And the charm of the bird 
Set the pulses athrill! 

O heart be thou strong 

There is One doth provide 

For the song-bird a song, 
And an arbour beside. 

And the white-blossom's Maker, 
Ere summer be spent. 

May make thee partaker 
Of love's sweet content. 



[25] 



TO THE NIGHT 




NIGHT, with wings unfurled 

Fall from the crystal dome; 
The one who makes my world 
Awaits my coming home. 



O night, like Holy Dove, 
Descend that I may see 

The spirit that I love 

Come out to welcome me. 

O night, that bringest bliss! 

Expectancy is sweet; 
But sweeter far than this — 

The hour when lovers meet. 



[26] 




THE MIRACLE 

MIRACLE of heavenly birth 
Is her dear heart to me; 
More than the treasures of the earth, 
Or those hid in the sea. 



A smile from her Creator's face 
She brings me every day, 

And love's deep undertone I trace. 
In all that she doth say. 

Of many moods, by fancy led, 

Impatient of control, 
A radiance still on me is shed 

From her love-lighted soul. 

Though seasons come and pass away. 
Her heart shall keep its youth, 

And wear, in some diviner day, 
Its glorious robe of truth. 



[27] 




PREDESTINATION 

Y track crossed yours one day, 

We met — and it was done; 
The love that will not pass away 
Was instantly begun. 



As I look back, I see 

A leading sure and strong — 
A Hand unseen directing me, 

Amid the countless throng. 

If clouds are in the sky, 

The sun is surely there; 
And Love, that sleeps not, standeth nigh 

To hear and answer prayer. 

Though eyes may lose the light. 
The sun still gives his ray; 

The little minutes of the night 
Lends brightness to the day. 



[28] 




LOVE'S LOGIC 

F you love me as I love you, 

Earth and sky have faces new. 



If you love me as I love you, 

All but love hath passed from view. 

If you love me as I love you, 
We shall walk with vision true. 

If you love me as I love you, 
Love through all we shall pursue. 

If you love me as I love you. 
Every bar is broken through. 

If you love me as I love you, 
God hath fashioned one of two. 



[29] 




THE INVITATION 

OME with the bird's first song; 

Come with the breath of dawn ; 
Come, for your stay hath been long; 
Come, for my heart is forlorn. 



Speak, and the morning breaks, 
Speak, and the night is spent; 

Speak, and my spirit wakes; 

Speak, and my heart is content. 

Whisper as mothers do; 

Whisper as lovers can ; 
Whisper / love but you; 

Whisper as woman to man. 

Stay with me in my mirth ; 

Stay with me when I sigh; 
Stay with me here on earth; 

Stay with me still in the sky. 



[30] 




THE BRIDGE 

HE days that intervene 

The cold, the chilling days, 
Since last your face was seen 

And love was more than praise. 
Are mists that veil, but cannot hide, 
The sun that they have glorified. 

The miles that intervene. 

The dark, the dreary miles, 
Whose enmity would screen 

From me your happy smiles. 
Are spaces in the vault of night 
Through which the stars shine doubly bright. 

My spirit still doth lean 

Across the farthest space, 
Until — no bar between — 
I find your shining face. 
And touch your cheek, and hold you fast. 
My utmost joy attained at last. 



[31] 




MOONBEAMS 

MOONBEAMS on the roof, 
O lights upon the river, 

O night of love and truth. 

Held in my heart forever. 



Three words of melody, 

A form in mystic white. 

And earth and sky and sea 

Were clad in new delight. 

O face I thrill to view, 

O voice that fills my brain. 
My spirits find in you 

A respite for its pain. 

No happier they who dwell 

In heav'n's unchanging light. 

Than we beneath the spell 

Love wove for us last night. 



[32] 




DIMIDIUM ANIMAE 

EAR love, 

When morning dawns, 

I turn to you; 

When noontide burns, 
I rest with you ; 
When evening falls, 
I call to you. 

Sweet love. 
As earth recedes, 
I shall need you; 
When life departs, 
I hold to you ; 
When heaven breaks, 
It brings me you. 



[33] 




WAYFARERS 

NSPIRER of my days, 

And solace of my nights, 
Companion of my ways, 

And sharer of my fights : 



The demons do not love us, 

Our pathway they would bar; 

But blue skies stretch above us, 
And evening hath its star. 

Response when doubts were rife, 
And banisher of cold. 

Whose touch upon my life. 

Turned all its dross to gold : 

The world will never know us, 
But still will wonder why 

The kingdoms it doth show us. 
We pass for love's sake by. 



[34] 




SONG 

HE night is falling, love, 
And my spirit calling, love. 
Just for you. 



The bats are flying, love. 
And my heart replying, love, 
Just to you. 

The stars above me, love, 
Seem all to love me, love, 
Because of you. 

The breeze doth bring me, love. 
Sweet joy, and sing me, love, 
A song of you. 

And all that liveth, love. 
My spirit giveth, love. 

New dreams of you. 



C35] 




SONG 

HOUGH I go from the sun, beloved, 
Whenever our pathways part ; 
Though the loss of your presence, 
beloved. 
Throw a shadow on my heart : 



Yet I will not complain, beloved, 
But rather rejoice that we 

Are sure of the life, beloved. 
That enters eternity. 

We part but to meet, beloved. 
And when hearts meet again. 

The grass at our feet, beloved. 
Will be brighter for the rain. 



[36] 




SONG 

HERE is a redness in the rose to-day 
I never knew before ; 
A sweeter fragrance from the jas- 
mine spray 
Floats through the open door. 

A fuller melody is in the wind 

That whispers low and sweet — 

A sense of something only half-defined, 
Yet felt to be complete. 

A happier murmur have the summer bees 

That rob the honeyed flowers; 
Their joyous undersong doth greatly please, 

Recalling childhood's hours. 

It is thy voice, O love, that lends such worth 

To flower and breeze and bee. 
And sheds upon a fading earth 
Hues of eternitv. 



[37] 




SONG 

*^HE bee sings in the flowers 
A song of happier hours 
Than used to be. 

The daffodil doth wear 
A robe more debonair 
Than anciently. 

The summer doth disclose 
A fuller redder rose 

Than once I knew. 
And every bush doth glow 
With glory angels know — 
Since I loved you. 



C38] 




PEACE 

ROM the infinite space 
Fell the night; 
And I yearned for the feel of your 
face, 

Heart's delight. 

From the mind's cloudy sky 

Doubt came down; 
And I longed for your low-voiced reply, 

Mine heart's own. 

Then I slept a sweet sleep ; 

And you came; 
And at once, with a tenderness deep, 

Called my name. 

At the words which you said, 

True and kind. 
Flew my fears, and a calm came instead 

To my mind. 

And at dawn my first thought, 

With eyes raised, 
Was to give, for the gladness you brought, 

God the praise. 

[39] 




THE SNOWDROP 

SAW a snowdrop bloom to-day 
Upon a nameless grave; 
I think a woman planted it 

For one no tears could save. 



And musing on our little life 
That hastens to its close; 

I thought of Christ Who wept and died, 
And from the grave arose. 

How could I love your darksome eyes, 
Your hand, your lips, your hair, — 

Your mind, so prompt to answer mine. 
Your spirit fine and rare; 

How could I keep them in my soul. 
While worship deeper grows. 

If over human hope and love 
The grave could ever close ? 

The snowdrop rising from the tomb, 
Brought Easter chimes to me: 

And sealed upon my heart the truth 
Of love's eternity. 

[40] 




COMPLETION 

WAS so cold, 
Until thine arms 
Were round me thrown, 

My love, mine own. 

It was so dark, 
Until the light 
Of thy dear face 

Lit every place. 

I was so sad. 
Until true joy 
Thou didst impart. 

Mine own sweetheart. 

And now with thee. 
In warmth and light 
And joy I dwell — 
Perpetual. 



[41] 




CONSTANCY 

PI KNOW the way you once did go, 
Dear maid of mine, 
Through meadows where the daisies 
grow. 
And butterflies dance to and fro. 
And sunbeams shine. 

I know the songs you once did sing. 

Wild, unrestrained, 
Until their rapture seemed to bring 
To kindling eyes the very thing 

That fancy feigned. 

And now that crags ascend more steep 

Than hath been yet, 
Although your path you steadfast keep, 
I ween that sometimes in your sleep 

Your cheek is wet. 

But still with me you choose to stay, 

Come what come will ; 
And dauntless and without dismay. 
Lend sunshine to the darkest day. 

And love me still. 
[42] 




REVERIE 

^]HE evening falls: 
Your spirit calls: 
Through walls on walls 
I pass to you. 

The morning breaks, 
The earth awakes: 
Soft as snowflakes 

I glide to you. 

The fancy sweet 
Is incomplete 
Until lips meet, 

And I hold you. 



[43] 




THE GIFT 

BOVE the dusky hair, 

Above the darksome eyes, 
I love the heart, so real and rare. 
Where hidden treasure lies. 



Above the brow of white, 

The pink upon the cheek, 

I love the smile so full of light, 
That kindles when I speak. 

Above the perfect grace 

Of velvet hand and arm, 

I love the gleam upon the face 
That heightens every charm. 

The joy that reds the rose 

And gladdens heaven too. 

Came with the gift the angels chose. 
The gift supreme of you. 



[44] 




WITHOUT AND WITH 



ITHOUT thy voice to bless me, 
Thy soft hand to caress me, 
The world is pain. 



Without thy step at even 
To bring my heart its heaven, 
My life is vain. 

Without thy mind to strengthen 
My faith when shadows lengthen, 
My hope doth wane. 

With thy sweet spirit near me. 
To comfort and to cheer me, 
E*en grief is gain. 



[45] 




OPPOSITES 

FTER suffering, balm; 

After sorrow, rest ; 
After passion, calm; 

After pain, your breast. 



Bonds demand release; 

Doubt, the faith we prove ; 
Discord heightens peace; 

Loss doth perfect love. 

Evil longs for good ; 

Falsehood for the true; 
Famine calls for food ; 

Heartache, love, for you. 



[46] 




IF YOU WERE GONE 

O longer would the sky be blue; 

No longer bright the sun that shone; 
The rose no longer red of hue — 
If you were gone. 



No golden morn with breathing sweet, 

No evening hour with mystic thrill, 
Would make my pulses quicklier beat — 
If yours were still. 

No child, to steal my heart away, 

With eyes of your own colour deep, 
Could lure me in this world to stay — 
If you should sleep. 

No gain nor goal would be the worth. 
Nowhere for comfort could I fly. 
No refuge find in all this earth — 
If you should die. 



[47] 



METAMORPHOSES 




ET me be the sun 

With golden ray 
To greet your eye 
At break of day. 



Let me be the wind 
To kiss your cheek 

When you cHmb alone 
The mountain peak. 

Let me be the rain 
With finger rare 

To touch your lips 
And tingling hair. 

Let me be the dew 
And gently come 

Upon your breast 
To be its home. 

Let me be the moon 
With silver light 

That shares your pillow, 
Love, all night. 



[48] 




THE HAND 

EAUTIFUL hand that God hath made, 
If I were as good as I should be, 
I think my hand would be half afraid 
To touch you other than sacredly. 



Fingers attired in velvet white. 

If I had the eye no beauties escape, 

My spirit would drink a new delight 
In gazing upon your perfect shape. 

Speaking hand with mystical power, 
Calling melody out of the keys ; — 

Your music, like some fair scented flower, 
My inmost soul doth uplift and please. 

Sensitive hand that God hath made, 

And more than others hath beautified ; 

Within mine own when thou art laid. 
My life's deep longing is satisfied. 



[49] 




PASTEL 

LOVE the darkness of your eye 
Wherein a thousand sparks do lie. 



I love the whiteness of your face, 
That witnesseth an inward grace. 

I love the redness of your lips, 
That never suffers an eclipse. 

The darkness is the kindly night, 
That veils the world in mystic light. 

The whiteness is the fallen snow. 
That folds the flowers that live below. 

The redness is the rose's hue 

The bee doth kiss, — as I kiss you. 



[50] 



ONLY YOU 




FHERS have spacious lands, love, 

And parks and mansions new; 
And all that gold commands, love, 
But I have only you. 



I do not ask for wealth, love. 

Nor parks, nor mansions new: 

I am content with health, love. 
With health and only you. 

The things of time and sense, love. 
Are not the real and true; 

My joys are more intense, love. 
And I have only you. 

Earth vanisheth away, love. 
And all its treasures too; 

My wealth will ever stay, love. 
My wealth is only you. 



[51] 




THE SIGH 

SEE the children playing in the lane, 
I see the lark upspringing to the 
sky; 
I see the yellow wheatfields on the 
plain; 
I see them — but I sigh. 



I watch the glow that glorifies the West; 

I watch the night descending from on high ; 
I watch the birds repairing to their nest ; 

1 watch them — but I sigh. 

I hear the voice of comfort of the Night ; 

I hear her step, and know that she is nigh ; 
I hear the song she singeth of delight ; 

I hear them — but I sigh. 



It is for hair more darksome than the Night's ; 

It is for eyes that love doth beautify; 
It is for hands that pour me all delights ; 

It is for these I sigh. 

[52] 




REALITY 

OT for us the semblance 

Men may buy for pelf; 
Nor a fine resemblance, 
But the thing itself. 



Not for us the seeming; 

But a power we feel — 
Waking as when dreaming - 

To be just as real. 

Not for us pretences, 

Whereof earth is full. 

Stirring but the senses, 
Passing by the soul. 

Not for us the flowers 

Artificers devise; 
This sweet rose of ours 

Grew in Paradise. 



[53] 




THE ISSUE 

HAT can I bring thee, dear, for all thy 
love to me ? 
My heart's full tribute is too poor a 
fee: 

Naught can I bring thee, dear, for all thy 
love to me. 

What can I sing thee, dear, for all thy love to me. 
My songs are less than love's own melody: 

Naught can I sing thee, dear, for all thy 
love to me. 

What can God bring thee, dear, for all thy love 

to me? 
A benediction thine eternally: 

This doth God bring thee, dear, for all thy 

love to me. 

What will they sing thee, dear, for all thy love 

to me ? 
The saints who see God's face continually: 

A sweet thanksgiving, dear, for all thy love 

to me. 

What is the issue, dear, of all thy love to me.? 

A soul that knoweth God through loving thee: 

This is the issue, dear, of all thy love to me. 

[.54] 




POTENCY 

MAGIC heart God made for mine, 
You bring me birds and flowers, 
; And make a brighter sun to shine 
Upon this earth of ours. 



O mystic soul, exceeding dear, 

EncircUng me with rays. 
You make the darkness disappear. 

And fill with light my days. 

O answering love, that perfects mine — 
Sweet, exquisite, apart — 

Your potency is all divine. 

And floods with peace my heart. 



[55] 




THE ROSE 

N hours I spend with you, 

Hours unalloyed with pain, 
The songs my childhood knew 

Come singing through my 
brain. 



My spirit touching yours 

Finds inward peace, — though all 
Be tempest out of doors. 

And leaves in myriads fall. 

The homes of Europe weep; 

The days foretold have come; 
The things men sowed they reap; 

And they who sang are dumb. 

O how were I forlorn. 

Had God not sent you hither; — 
My rose without a thorn, 

My rose no cold can wither. 



[56] 




THE PEARL 

WHAT a rich return 
For all to-day's work-crowded hours, 
Your welcoming kiss. 



O what a heavenly balm 
To brain tired with protracted thought, 
Your cooling hand. 

O what a pillow soft, 
Softer than down to weary head, 
Your peaceful breast. 

O what a priceless pearl 
For earth and for eternity, 
Your woman's heart. 



[57] 



YOU 




OU fill my heart with song; 

You with the singing eyes, 
You with the spirit strong, 

For whom my prayers arise. 



You make the sun more bright ; 

You with the eyes of day, 
You with the eyes of Hght 

That drive the mists away. 

You shield me from the cold ; 

You with the passion pure, 
You with the heart all gold, 

In which I trust secure. 

You in whose heart I trust, 
You with the feeling true. 

Yours is such love — I must 

Love God Who fashioned you. 



[58] 




IN IMITATION OF SAPPHO 

IVE me those hands and eyes and lips: 
I am the thirsty bee that sips 
From that mysterious honeyed source 
His being and his vital force: 
Give me those lips. 

Give me those hands and eyes and lips: 
Bid the sun suffer no eclipse, 
I am the flower that needs must turn 
My face to where his glories burn : 
Give me those lips. 

Give me those hands and eyes and lips : 
The measured sand too quickly slips 
From out my glass, and soon the night 
Will rob me of my dear delight : 
Give me those lips. 

Give me those hands and eyes and lips: 
'Twas writ in love's apocalypse 
That this our passion was to be: 
And who resisteth Destiny.? 
Give me those lips. 

[59] 



Give me those hands and eyes and hps; 
Our tongue in utterance often sHps, 
Our words are weakness at their best ; 
In silence love must be confessed : 
Give me those lips. 



[60] 






MANNA 

AMISHED with hunger, 

Heartsick and faint, — • 
Earth hath no bread 

Was my spirit's complaint. 



Freezing from coldness, 
Soul petrified, — 

Warmth, give me warmth, 
In mine anguish I cried. 

God in His kindness 

Answered my call, — 

Down from His Heaven 
Manna did fall. 

Banishing coldness, 

Warmth did appear, — 
That was thine heart, love. 

Unspeakably dear. 



[6i] 




MY LADY 

[jHERE is a blackness that I love, 
All other hues it glows above ; 
This colour rich, this colour rare, 
Dwells only in my lady's hair. 



There is a whiteness that I know. 
No other colour shineth so; 
This snowy whiteness, with its grace. 
Speaks only from my lady's face. 

There is a darkness, more than light, 
That dazzles far above the night ; 
This darkness, wherein beams do lie. 
Lives only in my lady's eye. 

There is a sweetness known to me. 
Whose source is deepest mystery; 
This hidden sweetness I can feel. 
But cannot to the full reveal. 



[62] 




SANS LIENS 

|EHIND your eyes 
A spirit lies; 
A thousand ways 
Your thought it sways, — 

O tell me what this spirit is, 

That droops and laughs in pain or bliss? 

Beneath your looks. 

As stones in brooks, 

A soul doth live, 

And upward strive, — 
O tell me what this soul can be, 
Whose light, as through a veil, I see ? 

Beneath the mesh, 

We call the flesh, 

A presence moves. 

That hates and loves, — 
tell me whence this presence came. 
Impalpable as air and flame ? 

[63] 



If language can 

Explain to man, 

Explain to me 

Love's mystery, — 
These moods, these motions manifold, 
Their secret spring I would be told. 

I kiss your lip. 

And nectar sip; 

Your hand I hold. 

Your form enfold, — 
And yet your spirit is as free 
As roving winds that sweep the sea. 

Since this is so, 
I fain would know 
How can we blend, 
Fulfil our end .? — 

love, have you not learned (said she), 
/ most am yours when most I am free. 



[64: 




AD ASTRA 

OUR lips outvie the reddest rose, 

Bright being breathing thoughtful 
breath; 
With you my spirit's stature grows 
Beyond the reach of death. 



Your hair is duskier than the night ; 

Your eyes outshine the evening star; 
With you my spirit takes its flight 

To where the angels are. 

Your step hath music more than all 
The melodies that life enhance; 

And at the sound of your footfall 
I feel my pulses dance. 

So white your arms, so warm and dear, — 
So sweet their welcome and embrace, - 

They lift me from this lower sphere 
To heaven's highest place. 



L^sl 




INCOMPLETENESS 

P-NIGHT if Christ Whose voice I wait 
Should say, Come thou to Me, 
I would arise and follow straight, 
Yet, — half regretfully, — 
My look would linger on each scene 
Where you and I had happy been. 

To-night if heaven's light should break 

Upon my dreaming eyes, 
And without you I should awake 

In blissful Paradise, 
My wistful gaze would wander back 
To where you still pursued life's track. 

To-night if God should give me rest, 

Who find the struggle long; 
Although the angels round me pressed 

To teach me the new song. 
The tears into mine eyes would start 
If you were not with me, sweetheart. 



[66] 



SONG 




I LIPS I love and hair and eyes, 

O woman's heart the crown of 
all, 
From you the light of Paradise 
On me doth fall. 



O lips I love and hair and eyes, 

O woman's ways, so winsome sweet, 

O spirit made to sympathize, 
O true helpmeet. 

O lips I love and hair and eyes. 
For you my feeling is so deep. 

Within my heart your image lies 
E'en while I sleep. 



[67] 



THREE LITTLE WORDS 




HREE little words you said to-night 

Have filled my heart with singing, 
And set the bells, — the silver bells, — 
Of earth and heaven ringing. 



Three little words you said to-night 
Have made the saints in glory 

Suspend their songs, — their deathless songs. 
To listen to our story. 

Three little words you said to-night 

My heart will hold forever ; 
Beyond the bounds of time and space. 

Beyond the unknown river. 

Three little words you said to-night 
The joy of heaven will heighten, 

When Christ, Who is the spirit's light. 
The dark of earth shall lighten. 



[68] 




SHADOWS 

HAVE no song to-night, 

Nor any zest for singing, 
After the warmth and Hght 

Around your presence cHnging, 
The street was cold, it chilled my heart. 
And tears into my heart do start. 

I cannot lift my heart : 

Too heavy on it lies 
The thought of days apart 

From your dark shining eyes, 
When I shall long, and long in vain. 
For one soft hand to rest my brain. 

Upon my face I fall 

As doth a tired child; 
For comfort I recall 

That God on us hath smiled ; 
And so this heart, that paineth still. 
Awaits the unfolding of His will. 



[69] 




SONG 

O near you are, so dear you are, 

The faintest smile from you 
Doth thrill my heart, my happy heart, 
With rapture through and 
through. 



If you are nigh, give sigh for sigh. 

The merest word you say 
Doth flood my heart, my beating heart, 

With radiance of the day. 

So dear you are, so near you are, 

A cold look from your eye 
Would chill my heart, my trusting heart, 

And overcloud the sky. 

If love should range abroad or change. 

And pleading be in vain, 
Ah then, my heart, my faithful heart. 

Could never love again. 



[70] 




LONELINESS 

ONG-BIRDS and flowers, 
Singing together, 
With their sweet powers 
Perfect the weather. 



Children at play 

On the green grass 
All the long day 

Merrily pass. 

Only my heart, 

Dreaming alone, 

Standeth apart, 

Cold as a stone. 

Joy doth enthrall 
All except me: 

Deaf to her call. 

Why should I be? 



[71] 



Dower of my life, 

Darksome and dear, 
Sorrow is rife 

Till thou appear. 

Winsome and wise, 
God's gift to me. 

Nothing supplies 

Absence from thee. 



[72] 




YEARNING 

LOVE, I am yearning to-night, 

For your voice with its magical 
tone. 
To bring me the hours of dehght 

We knew in the days that are 
flown. 

Since then how the hours have been long, 
No light hath illumined the sky; 

No robin hath trilled me a song; 

No daisy hath greeted mine eye. 

To-day like its fellows hath been; 

It is passed, and night's curtain is spread; 
But there is no moon to be seen. 

No star in the vault overhead. 

The stars do not come where you're not; 

The moon, too, refuses to shine; 
But there is no desolate spot, 

If only your presence is mine. 

How long must I languish in vain 

For the hands that mine tingle to meet ; 

For the laughter that's music's refrain; 

For the kiss that is earth's sweetest sweet. 

[73] 



INADEQUACY 




WOULD but cannot — bitter words 
Expressive of our human fate ; 

To image heaven and yet remain 
Outside the gate. 



We see the bhss we may not grasp ; 

We feel the tide that laves the strand, 
And long to launch upon the deep, — 

Yet powerless stand. 

Joy holds a cup before our lips, — 

The cup we count life's only gain, — 

And we are conscious of a thirst 
That's more than pain. 

A glance, — and how our pulses thrill; 

We taste of heaven in our hearts; 
We hold out supplicating arms 

While Joy departs. 



O life, inadequate to Joy! 

Can we but catch her smile. 
Until the kindly hand of death 

Unbar the door.? 

[74] 



no more. 




BEYOND HOPE 

HOU hast filled up my cup 

With joy from above ; 
Thou hast lifted me up, 

O most wonderful love. 



Because thou dost pour 
Thy nectar for me, 

I live evermore 

In deep ecstasy. 

Thy coming doth bring 

Such light to mine eyes 

That glory doth ring 

The stars in the skies. 

Far, far beyond hope 

Thy sweetness I prove; 
Thou hast lifted me up, 

O most wonderful love. 



[75] 



STARLIGHT 




ORE than all earthly gain 
Your heart so true; 
More than the world's refrain 
One word from you. 



Sweeter than angel songs 

Your voice doth ring; 

And in the midst of throngs, 
1 hear you sing. 

Upsprings, — as light doth come 
Forth from a star, — 

Joy and the sense of home. 
Where'er you are. 

For such immortal love 

To crown my days, 

God, with the choir above. 
Daily I praise. 



{.7^:\ 




L' ENVOI 

JAKE them, love, these sixty poems, 
Written as my heart was glowing, - 
Glowing with the fire that burneth 
In the deep depths of my spirit, — 
Fire which you yourself have kindled. 

White and still and cold the paper, 
Black the ink and dead and lifeless ; 
But a breath hath passed upon them 
From the vital soul within me, — 
And the lifeless are the living. 

And, as in your magic music, 
Which you weave into a language, 
Chords are blended, interwoven. 
Simple in themselves, yet telling 
In their blending man's whole story: 

So in these my songs I sing you. 
Searching, you will find the meaning. 
See the things love only seeth, 
Seize the message of the spirit, 
Which the dead are unaware of. 

177'} 



And your spirit, — in my singing, — 
Hearing thus my spirit speaking. 
You will catch the oft-heard whisper, 
Spoken as by one beside you, — 
Love is best; love jaileth never. 



[7B] 



6; 



\ .-.. 
^ // 



Deacidified using the Bookkeeper proces; 
Neutralizing agent: Magnesium Oxide 
Treatment Date: May 2009 

PreservatlonTechnologies 

A WORLD LEADER IN COLLECTIONS PRESERVATIOt 
111 Thomson Park Drive 
Cranberry Township^ PA 16066 



